Dec 29, 2005

(Toledo, OH) Heavy rains and rapid snow melt have contributed to the issuance of flood warnings for most of Northwest Ohio, including Fulton, Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky, and Wood counties.

Flood stage on the Maumee River occurs at 15 feet; the National Weather Service projects that the Maumee will crest at 17.4 feet tomorrow morning.

Ten Mile Creek, which later becomes the Ottawa River, is currently overflowing its banks in Sylvania. Parking lots along Monroe Street will soon be filled with water.

Native Toledoans, of course, know that the area is built upon the remnants of the Great Black Swamp, largely drained in the nineteenth century. It does not take much rain to remind residents of Northwest Ohio that the Swamp only needs a few inches of precipitation to reclaim its turf.

Addendum, 5:00 PM:

The Ottawa River has already begun to overflow its banks; this photo was taken near Bancroft Street where there is a considerable flood plain. Homes near the Ottawa generally are safe due to the extensive parkland nearby, but there will likely not be any golfing at Toledo's Ottawa Park any time soon.

This small creek near my house usually trickles along at a depth of a few inches, but today is over four feet deep. Recent drainage improvements by the city reduced the likelihood of flooding in the area; such unglamorous works projects are an oft-ignored legacy of Jack Ford's term as mayor.

The aforementioned project is also supposed to prevent flooding on Douglas Road, which used to flood at every heavy rain. We shall see if this is the case in today's and subsequent flooding conditions.

So far, the river hasn't gotten too high at UT. Last year it was just beneath the footbridge that leads over to the tennis courts from Carlson Library. It's still got a ways to go before it gets to that point.

I like to drive down to the river and watch the floods. Yes, it sounds strange but I think it's from growing up with my grandparents having a cottage near Grand Rapids that met floodwaters often. I'll never forget the year that the ice came up on to River Road on the Maumee side to the point where some of the ice flow chunks were taller than my son. The awesome power of nature never ceases to amaze me.